"Sustainability" Project - Optimizing Fiber Packaging

In the packaging field, the concept of “sustainability” has become more and more important. Many packaging materials can be considered “sustainable” and the basis for optimizing fiber packaging is also “sustainability”. The largest single project currently under implementation in the field is called the SustainPack ("Continuous Packaging"). More than half of the project’s total of 30 million euros is from the European Union. The project brings together 35 commercial and non-commercial partners.

The total implementation period of the project is four years, and the content of the first year has now been completed. It brings together a number of sub-projects. These sub-projects cover a wide range of areas and are difficult to generalize, but they include materials reduction and research on nanomaterials (nano-materials) combined with "traditional" fibers as performance-enhancing materials.

Kennett Johansen of STFI-Packforsk is coordinating with the "Continuous Packaging" project. He emphasized the overall nature of the project. Despite adopting different R&D approaches, he emphasized that different projects are “moving toward common goals.” He also stressed the significance of this collaborative effort in practical applications: “Our purpose is to confirm: You can create a variety of properties for a package that uses only renewable resources." One year has passed and Johnson is already looking forward to these concrete results. He explained: “We are making changes to make this project from purely research to increasingly driven by the market.” To achieve this goal, many cooperative researchers are working on letterpress photography and intuitive examples. "We are going to propose, say, 20 examples for the goals we are trying to achieve."

The contribution of Spain's ITENE Institute is to study the compatibility of fibers, nan-oclays, and polymers on fiber-based films. The organization based in Valencia also considered how to adjust the mechanical and chemical properties of these films to suit different end-use requirements. The representative of Finland's VTT said that VTT is conducting research on mobile diagnostic equipment for fiber based packaging. Professor Tom Linstrom, director of the STFI-Packforsk project, said that the main objective of this project in Sweden. "The aim is to improve Mechanosorptive creep of linerboards; for liquids, improve the folding resistance of paperboards, so that 30% less materials can be used." Linstrom said: "Mechanosorptive creep and crack resistance are both This is a key parameter, and so far neither of these two parameters can be measured.However, the paper mechanics group here now has the right tools to measure enough performance.

In terms of new paper performance, this sooner or later will cause disruptive effects in the market. “Commercial partners are also joining the project to a large extent. Jelena Javenan is the Manager of the StoraEnso Food Packaging Council in Finland. She explained: “We are considering adopting an economical online management method and optimizing those Insulation method. "IAPRI internal and external organizations are closely watching the "continuous packaging" project. Lindstrom believes that the balance between different types of research in such projects is very important. "The key is to have a fixed job from the very beginning Institutions then add more high-risk and high-investment projects, just like condiments added to pies. ”

Reprinted from: Youyin